Key Points

- Underworld water palace of Ryūjin, Otohime and Watatsumi

- Each palace side reflects a season

Brief Bio 

Ryūgū or Ryūgū-jō is the fabulous mythical residence of the Ryūjin (Dragon God) or Sea God, or the princess Otohime. It is also equated with the "fish-scale palace" (iroko no goto tsukureru miya) which was the Sea God Watatsumi's palace mentioned in the Kojiki (8th century).

The Ryūgū is well-known as the supernatural place in the fisherman's fairytale Urashima Tarō, and most Japanese now consider it to be a place which is supposed to lie under the sea. Actually, Ryūgū that appears in other narratives and fairytales (otogi banashi) had been considered to be underwater for a long time, but in the particular case of the Urashima legend, its Dragon Palace was not firmly considered to be underwater until quite late in the modern period.